Olympian Liz McColgan has spoken of her relief and anger after she was dramatically cleared of assaulting her estranged husband.
”My son was distressed and was shouting: ‘What are you doing? Stop hitting Dad.’ She was just shouting things about the solicitor’s letter. She said she had had enough and I was to get out the house.”
Mr McColgan claimed the former athlete then went upstairs and began throwing his clothes on to the patio from a first-floor window. He said he attempted to pick up the garments and bring them back for around 30 minutes, before he was told to leave.
The court was shown pictures taken by Mr McColgan that illustrated what he claimed were injuries to his face and left arm, others of his clothes lying on the ground and one of his wife throwing items out of a window.
Mrs McColgan’s defence agent George Donnelly asked if he was aware what spyware was, before telling the court it was a computer programme used to track emails.
He then asked Mr McColgan if he had used such a programme on his wife’s computer because he suspected her of having an affair.
The witness admitted he had used it and said that he had seen an online conversation on Facebook between his wife and a third party.
Mr Donnelly then questioned Mr McColgan about a sim card he had purchased for a mobile phone and asked him if he had used it to anonymously contact his wife and a third party.
The solicitor also asked if he had threatened his wife that he would go public with his suspicions.
Mr McColgan said: ”I tried speaking to her umpteen times. I just wanted everything to stop. I don’t harbour any grudges towards her.”
Mrs McColgan took gold in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, silver at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and gold in the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991.
As Liz Lynch, she grew up in the Whitfield area of Dundee and pursued her talent for long-distance running through the city’s Hawkhill Harriers.
Following her retirement she set up the Liz McColgan Health Club and Physiotherapy Centre in Carnoustie.
Photo Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
The Carnoustie runner had watched from the dock at Arbroath Sheriff Court on Monday as her former partner Peter McColgan revealed that he suspected her of having an affair and had spied on her Facebook page.
In an emotional statement outside the building, she thanked her family for their support and claimed there was more to the couple’s life than had been revealed.
”This has been a really hard six months for my family,” she said. ”I’ve had a very tough life with Peter McColgan and nobody knows the true story of it all. I’m on my way to a new life now and I’m free of someone who has tried to control everything I’ve done. I’m in an emotional state right now.
”I think for Peter to hide behind an assault charge when there are men really out there in that position is sad. It’s poor of him to try and use this as an excuse. This has been hard on my children and I am a good mother.”
The 47-year-old mother of five had always denied attacking her husband, a former Northern Ireland steeplechaser, at the family home in Panbride, near Carnoustie, on July 12.
Sheriff Derek Pyle found her not guilty of repeatedly punching and prodding him, while charges alleging she threw his clothes out of the window were dropped.
Cheers came from the public gallery as the sheriff said he was ”not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt” that she had attacked her husband.
The court heard the couple separated late last year after 22 years of marriage, but continued to share a house.
Mr McColgan was first to take the witness stand, questioned by depute fiscal Elisabeth Miller. He said there were ”certain issues” in the relationship and that despite efforts to address the situation he felt he was ”not getting anywhere.”
He claimed his wife had driven back from Loughborough after receiving a letter from his solicitor relating to the possible sale of the family home. Mr McColgan said he hadn’t expected his wife back, claiming he had received a text message saying she wouldn’t be returning until the weekend.
”I was in the kitchen making the boys’ teas,” he said. ”I just heard the door open and heard somebody shout ‘Mum!’ I was totally surprised.”
Mr McColgan said his wife began shouting at him about the contents of the solicitor’s letter, claiming she said: ”Why have you done this? Why are you selling the house?”
He added: ”She just came over and started prodding me in the stomach, then the next thing I remember there was a punch to the side of my face.”
Continued…